


is it too late to open up? (i'm dying to say, oh how i love you)

by georgiehensley



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: (also it's not said explicitly but it's implied that max zoey and simon are poly bc i said so), Christmas Party, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, M/M, Male Friendship, Mistletoe, Mutual Pining, Pining, Social Anxiety, am i projecting onto leif with the anxiety? you bet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28116858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgiehensley/pseuds/georgiehensley
Summary: Leif and Tobin are invited to Zoey's apartment for a small holiday gathering, but Leif's social anxiety keeps him trapped in the kitchen. Tobin tries to pull him out, and a certain holiday decoration forces them to confront their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Tobin Batra/Leif Donnelly
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45
Collections: Zoey's Playlist Secret Santa 2020





	is it too late to open up? (i'm dying to say, oh how i love you)

**Author's Note:**

> god, i suck at summaries. this is my zep secret santa gift for @a-human-pippin-took on tumblr. decided to take advantage of the holiday theme to write a cheesy mistletoe fic for coder bfs. and i'm thankful for this secret santa exchange finally getting me back into writing for zep. in a normal year, i probably would have written way more for this fandom, but the damn pandemic drained me of all my creativity. hopefully this sets a precident for me writing more (especially for zep!) in the new year. 
> 
> title from the song "under the mistletoe" by kelly clarkson & brett eldredge.

It was just a little holiday get-together at Zoey’s apartment, nothing unusual about it. Well, it wasn’t exactly _normal_ to be socializing with your boss outside of work hours, but things hadn’t really been “normal” at SPRQ Point ever since Leif had his little Thing™ with Joan (which he’s over now… mostly). But he and Tobin had grown surprisingly close with Zoey in the months since Joan left, to the point that, he figures, they could now be considered part of her friendship group.

That is, since the other attendees of this get-together were Max, who no longer worked at SPRQ Point but was still best buds (or maybe more?) with Zoey, Simon, whose presence always intimidated Leif due to his ranking at the company but he seemed to be a pretty chill guy, especially around Zoey (yeah, Leif had no idea what was going on with those three), and Mo, Zoey’s neighbor from across the hall who Leif didn’t really know that well but he seemed nice. 

So, he was surrounded by people who were nice and friendly and he _should_ be comfortable around…

And yet, here he was, hiding out in the kitchen, idly sipping on his glass of apple cider (because he _refused_ to take the egg nog that he _knew_ was spiked, given how loud Mo’s become ever since _he_ had some) while everyone else sat in the living room, chatting away.

Stupid social anxiety, preventing him from enjoying even _this_ small a gathering.

Ugh, was it hot in there, or was it just him? Leif tugged on the collar of his sweater. Why did he always insist on wearing sweaters? Was he trying to look pretentious? Is that why no one wanted to talk to him? Because they still thought he was a dick who was trying to overrun the company by sleeping with his boss and--

Leif nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand against the small of his back, pulling him out of his thoughts. He opened his mouth to snap at whoever snuck up on him, only when he turned his head, he found Tobin standing next to him with a sympathetic look on his face.

“Hey,” he said, his voice soft in a way that eased the tension in Leif’s shoulders but did nothing to slow his racing heart or cool his burning face. “You okay? You’ve been in here a while.”

“I’m fine,” Leif said, a clear lie as he glanced down at his drink, swirling it around in the glass.

Tobin snorted. “No, you’re clearly not. What, is it too much for you? Need to step out for some air? I’ll gladly take a walk with you, I’m starting to feel like a third wheel around Zimax. Or would it be fourth? No, wait, that’s an even number--”

“No, I’m good in here,” Leif said. “I just,” He sighed. “What if they still hate me, for everything that happened? The Joan thing, going to the sixth floor? Just generally acting like a douche?”

Tobin shook his head. “Okay, first off, you’re not a douche. And second, Zoey wouldn’t have invited you if she didn’t like you, right? Also, didn’t you only go to the sixth floor because Max was there?” 

Leif flushed. “Well, no, not _only_ , but it helped give me an in--”

“Ditching me for another man,” Tobin said, cutting him off. He shook his head. “I don’t think my heart will ever recover.”

Leif snorted and Tobin smiled as he saw his friend finally start to relax. 

“You good now, dude?” Tobin asked after a moment. “Ready to come rejoin civilization? I promise, no one will be biting your head off.”

Leif laughed. “Yeah, I think I’m feeling a little better. Thanks.”

Tobin smiled. “Happy to help.”

With a gentle push against his lower back, he guided Leif back towards the living room. Leif walked ahead of him, only to stop just as he left the doorway and heard Tobin snort.

“What?” Leif asked, turning back around.

Tobin lifted his chin. “Mistletoe.”

Leif glanced up and felt himself flush all over again. Yup, there it was, a sprig of mistletoe hanging in the doorway just outside the kitchen.

 _Damn you, Zoey_.

“So, you gonna do it or what?”

“What?” Leif said again, blinking as his gaze fell back down to his friend.

Tobin smirked. “Come on, it’s tradition. What’s a little kiss between bros?”

Leif bit the inside of his cheek. “Y-yeah.” He hesitantly took a step forward. “Nothing wrong with that.”

He could feel his hands start to shake and his heart begin to race once more. He was really going to do this, kiss his best friend that he’d been crushing on for _months_ now, at the apartment of their _boss?!_

As if he could sense Leif’s hesitancy from the slowness of his steps, Tobin took the initiative to reach forward, grabbing Leif by the collar of his sweater and pulling him close, forcing him to tilt his head down the slightest bit as Tobin mashed their lips together. 

It was a pretty messy first kiss, with Leif hearing himself gasp at the first brush of their lips together and his brain hardly even registering what was happening until it was over and Tobin was pulling away from him. 

But nope, this time Leif was going after what he wanted.

With a sudden, newfound confidence, Leif wrapped his arms around Tobin’s waist, pulling him in to kiss him on the lips once more, properly this time. He could feel Tobin smiling against his lips and the vibration of the other man’s laugh against his skin.

“Dude,” Tobin said, pulling back, only to press his forehead against Leif’s. “I’ve wanted you to do that since, like, the first freakin’ day we met.”

“I’ve wanted to do that for months,” Leif said breathlessly, his heart now pounding to the beat of _Tob-in, Tob-in, Tob-in_. 

“Wanna do it again?” Tobin asked with a smirk.

“Hell yeah.”

Back in the living room, the rest of the group had a full view of what was happening. By the third kiss, Zoey put her face in her hands with a groan and mumble of, “I’ve seen enough of this.” On her right, Max laughed and softly cheered Leif on. On her left, Simon wrapped an arm around Zoey and rubbed her lower back. And Mo, sat in a separate chair from the trio, took another sip of his spiked eggnog.

“Mistletoe,” he said, shaking his head. “Really brings the most oblivious of idiot boys together.”


End file.
